Meliboea
- a maritime town of Thessaly, at the foot of Mount Ossa, the birthplace of Philoctetes, now Kastri, Mel. 2, 3; Plin. 4, 7, 16, § 32; Liv. 36, 13, 6; 44, 13.—Hence,
- II Derivv.
- A Mĕlĭboeus, a, um, adj., Meliboean: purpura, Lucr. 2, 500; Verg. A. 5, 251.—
- B Mĕlĭboeensis, e, adj., of or belonging to Meliboea, Serv. ad Verg. A. 5, 251.
(Μελίβοια.)
1. A daughter of Oceanus, and, by Pelasgus, the mother of Lycaon. (Apollod. 3.8. § I.)
2. A daughter of Magnes, who called the town of Meliboea, in Magnesia, after her. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 338.)
3. One of the daughters of Niobe. (Apollod. 3.5.6; Paus. 2.21.10.)
4. An Ephesian maiden who was in love with a youth of the name of Alexis. As, however, her parents had destined her for another man, Alexis quitted his native place; and on the day of her marriage Meliboea threw herself from the roof of her house. But she was not injured, and escaped to a boat which was lying near, and the ropes of which became untied of their own accord. The boat then carried her to her beloved Alexis. The united happy lovers now dedicated a sanctuary to Aphrodite, surnamed Automate and Epidaetia (Serv. ad Aen. 1.724.)
5. The mother of Ajax, and wife of Theseus. (Athen. 13.557.)
Meliboea occurs also as a surname of Persephone. (Lasus, apud Athen. xiv. p. 624.) [L.S]
MELIBOEA an island at the mouth of the Orontes in Syria, the sole authority for the existence of which appears to be a poetical myth of Oppianus. (Cyneget. 2.115, &c.)
[G.W]MELIBOEA (Μελίβοια: Eth. Μελιβοεύς).
1.An ancient town of Magnesia in Thessaly, mentioned by Homer as one of the places subject to Philoctetes (Il. 2.717). It was situated upon the sea-coast (Hdt. 7.188; Scylax, p. 25; Apollon. 1.592), andis described by Livy (Liv. 44.13) as situated at the roots of Mt. Ossa, and by Strabo (9. p. 443) as lying in the gulf between Ossa and Pelium. Leake therefore places it near Aghiá (Northern Greece, vol. 4. p. 414). Meliboea was taken and plundered by the Romans under Cn. Octavius, B.C. 168. (Liv. xliv 46: Meliboea is also mentioned by Strab. 9. p. 436; Steph. B. s. v.; Mela, 2.3; Plin. Nat. 4.9. s. 16.)
The Meliboean purple is said by Lucretius (Lucr. 2.499; Verg. A. 5.251) to have derived its name from this town. Many modern writers, however, suppose the name to have come from the small island Meliboea at the mouth of the Orontes in Syria; but there is no reason for this supposition, as the shellfish from which the purple dye is obtained is found in the present day off the coast of Thessaly.
2.A town of Histiaeotis in Thessaly, is conjectured by Leake to be represented by Voivóda. (Liv. 36.13; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 4. p. 536.)
(Μελίβοια). (1) A town on the coast of Thessaly in Magnesia, between Mount Ossa and Mount Pelion, where Philoctetes reigned, who is hence called by Vergil, dux Meliboeus. It was noted for its purple dye (Lucret. ii. 499).
(2) An island at the mouth of the river Orontes in Syria.
- survives her sisters: Apollod. 3.5.6; Paus. 2.21.9
- her name changed to Chloris: Paus. 2.21.9
- wife of Lycaon: Apollod. 3.7.7
- wreck of Xerxes' fleet near it: Hdt. 7.188